Site News: New Editorial - a personal story of the power of transfiguration. Also added 'What's Life Like in the Seminary?' Added saints who shaped the faith of England (in preparation for Pope Benedict's visit). Also added quotations on or about the priesthood with an invitation to see (and add) more on the forum. John Bender has added a prayer to be said during Lent. Added St Thomas More (and quote) to English saints. You may wonder why St Thomas More gets a whole page to himself - well, as an Engishman, he's my favourite saint and put his conscience above all else!

We've just added an important new video to our resources page called Alter Christus. It comes from the Congrgation for the Clergy and is in two parts (Youtube links).

Sign the petition today! Welcome Pope Benedict to the UK!

The annual pilgrimage of the National Secular Society to Rome? No! You could fit
all their followers into a phone box and still have plenty of space for hot air.

Here in the UK we have a sad collection of secularists under the collective name of National Secular Society (NSS). They ridicule anything to do with religion and faith with the same arrogance and propaganda which they claim is the preserve of the Church. According to their threadbare philosophy anyone who is religious is stupid and trusts in fables.Everything religious is branded as 'mumbo-jumbo' (for which read the NSS can't quite get their heads around the simple fact that the majority of the world's population are religious).
Well congratulations NSS - if all religious people are dumb, then start rewriting history. Write out Bach and Vivaldi and Byrd and Tallis, Mozart, Britten, Tavernor, write out the Muslim scientists of the Middle Ages, write out major architects, poets, authors and write out spiritual leaders of the stature of Martin Luther King or Mother Theresa, write out some of the best theologians with far better minds than the NSS .... these people will always make the NSS look like pygmies. If you are a brain-dead secularist you will need buckets of paint to white-out history! But the saddest thing about the NSS is that they do that - they write propaganda while jumping up and down like little babies complaining that the Church is guilty of the same crime. They will mount their protest against the Pope's visit, but who cares - who even notices? The NSS boasts they delivered 28,000 signature petition to the Prime Minister - a really impressive result from a UK population of 61 million! According to their own admission that petition represents a pathetic 0.054% of the UK population (that's even dropping 10 million children from the figures)!
I'm prepared to make an infallible statement - the Prime Minister will be too busy to even read anything with such a underwhelming response and will probably dump it straight into his trash. The PM is a religious man and will recognise the tremendous influence for good of the Papacy (any intelligent person - exclude NSS - will recognise how Pope John Paul II brought down atheistic communism), and the PM will hopefully ban sites that incite religious hatred and bigotry, and can't even get the most basic of facts right!

Their moan & groan site even offers an 'unbaptized' certificate - as if a rotten bit of paper can nullify a sacrament! (Well we didn't exactly expect the NSS to have the simplest qualification in theology). True to form, they want to protest about the Holy Father's visit to England later this year. Well, I'll wager a bet with NSS - there will be hundreds of thousands if not a million to welcome Pope Benedict while the NSS might be able to muster a couple of hundred to further their bankrupt policies. Anyway, for sensible men and women of good will (Catholic or not), you can sign the online petition which welcomes the Pope - here. (The Welcome the Pope site is already set to overtake their 'lean' response). Which petitions got a better response than the NSS campaign? Smoking in pubs, photography in public places, congestion charging, abolition of 10p rate of income tax to name a few! QED - NSS is a organisation that speaks for nobody!

We rejoice with the people of Australia as the Vatican announces that Mary Mackillop will become the nation's first saint. A religious with total dedication to the marginalized and uneducated, she was briefly excommunicated by a Bishop for insubordination! Not all bishops are omniscient, thank God!

The Daily Telegraph (UK) published a news item that stated Pope Benedict has been approached by the BBC to contribute to Radio 4's Thought For The Day which goes out during the Today programme and lasts around 2 minutes. Mark Thompson, Director-General of the BBC is understood to have raised this in discussion with Vatican officials in Rome to discuss the BBC's coverage of the Pope's visit. Mark Thompson is a Catholic and educated by the Jesuits. We will soon add a new page to our site covering the visit of the Holy Father later this year and (where copyright allows) add video and audio clips and links.

Every so often the BBC offers a stunning documentary and tonight it showed an hour long programme called 'Syrian School' about life in schools in Syria. One of the pupils it followed was a 15 year old boy who was a Christian refugee from Iraq and how he was petrified by fireworks because of the bombs and gunfire he had experienced in his home country. There are 2 million refugees from Iraq in Syria - many of them Christian because of persecution in Iraq. We should pray for persecuted Christians everywhere. But it made me think - when Bush and Blair decided it would be a good thing to invade Iraq, did they have a clue about the mayhem they would inflict - the religious conflicts, tens of thousands killed, millions forced into exile, the lack of electricity and water? Someone once said that war was far too serious a matter to be left in the hands of politicians.

The Holy Father has confirmed that he will visit Britain this year (probably in September). At his meeting with the Bishops of England & Wales today, he said "Even amid the pressures of a secular age, there are many signs of living faith and devotion among the Catholics of England and Wales. I am thinking for example of the enthusiasm generated by the visit of the relics of St Thérèse, the interest aroused by the prospect of Cardinal Newman's beatification and the eagerness of young people to take part in pilgrimages and World Youth Days.
On the occasion of my forthcoming Apostolic Visit to Great Britain, I shall be able to witness that faith for myself and as Successor of Peter, to strengthen and confirm it.
During the months of preparation that lie ahead, be sure to encourage the Catholics of England and Wales in their devotion and assure them that the Pope constantly remembers them in his prayers and holds them in his heart."

When he visits the UK the Pope is expected to address MPs and peers on the issue of religious freedom from the spot in Westminster Hall where Sir Thomas More was condemned to death in 1535 for opposing the adultery of Henry VIII. 

He is expected to preside over the beatification of the Victorian convert Cardinal John Henry Newman, possibly in Wembley Stadium, and will make a speech at Oxford University.

Holy Father - we are proud to be Catholics here. We were Christian before some nations were even formed, we provided missionaries to carry the Gospel across the globe, and our ancestors gave their lives for the faith during the violent eruptions of the Reformation. Our spiritual heritage is without parallel from the Venerable Bede to Cardinal Newman. We will welcome you and continue to follow your leadership. Strengthen our faith in Jesus and help us to love the Church even more.

See online petition and welcome above.

We will be uploading each week (up to the visit of the Holy Father) a significant quotation from saints or holy men and women who shaped our faith in England - see posts here.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI has a new commandment for priests struggling to get their message across: Go forth and blog.

The pope, whose own presence on the Web has heavily grown in recent years, urged priests on Saturday to use all multimedia tools at their disposal to preach the Gospel and engage in dialogue with people of other religions and cultures.

And just using e-mail or surfing the Web is often not enough: Priests should use cutting-edge technologies to express themselves and lead their communities, Benedict said in a message released by the Vatican.

"The spread of multimedia communications and its rich 'menu of options' might make us think it sufficient simply to be present on the Web," but priests are "challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources," he said.

The message, prepared for the World Day of Communications, suggests such possibilities as images, videos, animated features, blogs, and Web sites.

Benedict said young priests should become familiar with new media while still in seminary, though he stressed that the use of new technologies must reflect theological and spiritual principles.

"Priests present in the world of digital communications should be less notable for their media savvy than for their priestly heart, their closeness to Christ," he said.

The 82-year-old pope has often been wary of new media, warning about what he has called the tendency of entertainment media, in particular, to trivialize sex and promote violence, while lamenting that the endless stream of news can make people insensitive to tragedies.

But Benedict has also praised new ways of communicating as a "gift to humanity" when used to foster friendship and understanding.

The Vatican has tried hard to keep up to speed with the rapidly changing field.

Last year it opened a YouTube channel as well as a portal dedicated to the pope. The Pope2You site gives news on the pontiff's trips and speeches and features a Facebook application that allows users to send postcards with photos of Benedict and excerpts from his messages to their friends.

Many priests and top prelates already interact with the faithful online. One of Benedict's advisers, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, the archbishop of Naples, has his own Facebook profile and so does Cardinal Roger Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles.

In Saturday's message - titled "The priest and pastoral ministry in a digital world: new media at the service of the Word" - Benedict urged special care in contacts with other cultures and beliefs.

A presence on the Web, "precisely because it brings us into contact with the followers of other religions, nonbelievers and people of every culture, requires sensitivity to those who do not believe, the disheartened and those who have a deep, unarticulated desire for enduring truth and the absolute," he said.

Monsignor Claudio Maria Celli, who heads the Vatican's social communications office, said that Benedict's words aimed to encourage reflection in the church on the positive uses of new media.

"That doesn't mean that (every priest) must open a blog or a Web site. It means that the church and the faithful must engage in this ministry in a digital world," Celli told reporters. "At some point, a balance will be found."

Celli, 68, said that young priests would have no trouble following the pope's message, but, he joked, "those who have a certain age will struggle a bit more."

Jeremy, our excellent Press & Publicity manager (aka 'That Religious Guy') has started his own blog at http://thatreligiousguy.blogspot.com/
Please drop by and have a look and maybe add a comment.

Surprise! Trawling through the server logs again this week (we have had some very significant downloads from our resources section), noticed that there was 1 visitor from Vatican City! Don't know who it was (I like to imagine it was the Holy Father), but I hope you liked our site and prayed for us.

Fr Anthony Denton (Director of Vocations for Melbourne Archdiocese) recently wrote an article for a periodical which goes out to all ordained clergy in Australia, New Zealand and Oceana. The following is a brief extract from the article: "In recent months I have been in contact with some resourceful youth from England and the United States of America who decided to share their own consideration of a priestly vocation with other like-minded young people. This is classic youth ministering to youth. The result is their very attractive website – www.catholicpriest.me.uk – which poses the question at the masthead, “a vocation to be a priest?” They are in their mid-teens and are aware that they are in the early stages of discernment. Nevertheless they are confident that they have heard a call from God. Reading their testimonies we will probably be very surprised at their precocity but hopefully we will also be inspired by their knowledge and humility. I have heard it said before, and have come to see myself, that today’s seminarian (and future priest) is very different from his contemporaries of even only a generation ago".

Vatican City, Dec 19, 2009 Pope Benedict XVI has signed a decree recognizing the late Pope John Paul II's life of “heroic virtue.” With his signature, Benedict XVI throws the door wide open to the beatification of the much-loved Polish Pontiff and gives him the title "Venerable."

On Saturday morning, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints led by Archbishop Angelo Amato met with Pope Benedict XVI to celebrate their 40th anniversary as a dicastery of the Holy See and to present decrees for papal approval.  Pope John Paul II's name was among the Congregation's nominations for those possessing “heroic virtue.”The next step towards canonization of John Paul II is a second decree to be signed by the Pope that attributes a miracle to him.  It is thought that this miracle will be one that has already taken place but has not yet been officially recognized. The miracle involves a French nun who was cured of Parkinson´s disease through John Paul II's intercession.Following the approval of his first miracle, Venerable Karol Woytilya would be eligible for beatification, and pending a second miracle, he could be declared a saint.

The Vatican has processed his case in record time.  Since the Pontiff´s death, less than five years have passed.  Five years is the normal amount of time that must go by before the Holy See can begin the investigation process. In this case, Pope Benedict made an exception just a little over a month after John Paul II's death in March of 2005.

Editor: Pope John Paul II inspired many vocations to the priesthood (see our stories) by his heroic life and witness. I hope he will soon become a Saint and help us to witness to the Gospel.

ROME, Nov. 6, 2009-- The director of the Pontifical Pastoral Ministry for Priestly Vocations is affirming that 20 countries have seen an increase in priestly vocations over the past year. Monsignor Francis Bonnici reported this at a conference of English and Welsh Vocations Directors, recently held at the Venerable English College in Rome. He noted that England and Wales were among those that had seen an increase in the number of seminarians, but didn't offer a list of the others.
The National Office for Vocations of the bishops' conference of England and Wales reported in September over 40 men commenced seminary formation for the dioceses of England and Wales. The priest urged the vocations directors to not be too "general" in promoting the priesthood. He gave special emphasis to the ministerial priesthood, stating that a new document, planned to be released in 2011, will be published on this topic, drawing on the addresses of Benedict XVI. After the conference, Monsignor Bonnici affirmed that the time with the vocations directors was "very enriching." He continued: "What struck me most was the great interest which they have in vocations to the priesthood.
"Looking at the table where there were the pamphlets and programs in print, I could notice that there is a true focus in the pastoral ministry for vocations. Listening to the discussions and talking to individuals, I felt that the promotion of vocation is very central to the directors." Some 18 priests from 16 dioceses attended the conference, and elected a new chairman of the vocations directors' committee. The new chairman, Father Stephen Langridge, stated, "Every diocese has to face up to the challenge of promoting priestly vocations and yet, in many places the vocations director is part-time."
"As the newly elected chairman," he affirmed, "I am very conscious of the importance of encouraging my fellow vocations directors and I look forward to working with them to develop new strategies for the promotion of priestly vocations particularly among the teenagers and younger men of our dioceses." (Zenit)

Watch this video on what we can all do during The Year of the Priest, with Fr David Toups from USCCB:

We are all thrilled to have a new link to us from the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne in Australia - see our resources section.

A very interesting development - the Holy Father has responded to requests for help from a group of Anglican priests (Church of England), indicating that if they wished to become Catholic priests, they would be welcomed by Rome along with some of their liturgical traditions. We already have a number of married and celibate ex-Anglican clergy in service. The transition normally requires a shortened seminary course prior to ordination. It is estimated that up to 600 priests might take the path to full communion. You can read more at 'The Tablet'Bishop John Hind of Chichester, described by The Telegraph as “the most senior traditionalist in the Church of England,” has announced his plans to convert to Catholicism.

“This is a remarkable new step from the Vatican,” he said, referring to Pope Benedict’s decision to permit members of Anglican communities to enter the Catholic Church as communities. “At long last there are some choices for Catholics in the Church of England. I'd be happy to be reordained into the Catholic Church.”

Talking about blogs - here's one well worth a visit! Called 'Writings of a Boy Discerning God's Call' you can discover the wonder and spirituality of John in the USA as he considers his calling to be a priest. John writes "I love God and have drawn very close to him in the past couple of years because of his constant calling me to a life as a priest". We are really happy to have John as the new Prayer & Reflection editor.

Pope Benedict is to visit Britain in 2010 at the personal invitation of Prime-Minister Gordon Brown. Details of the visit are thin at the moment, but all people of good will (with the exception of the National Secular Society NSS who can only complain about anything religious as 'mumbo jumbo' = for which read 'we can't quite get to grips with the fact that the majority of the world's population are religious'.) The visit of the Holy Father is timed to perfection with the canonization of Cardinal John Henry Newman. Britain played a huge part as the cradle of Christianity with the influence of Celtic and Roman missionaries and has more Catholic martyrs than any country. We are proud to be Catholic!

Our web logs showed a very large jump in numbers visiting this site this week - 700 hits in just one day! Probably due to a very good review on the Catholic Culture site which said "The site is attractive and a good place for young men considering the priesthood to visit" and then went on to list seven or eight strengths. Someone has kindly sent me an extract from Jeff Mirus's weekly Catholic Culture email which stated; "But there's good news too. A new web site, by teens and for teens, helps young men decide this question: Do you have A Vocation to Be a Priest? We are getting so many good reviews and user comments that we have taken them off the resources page and created a new area. Thanks to everyone for encouraging us. See all comments and major reviews here.

Archbishop Dolan (New York) has offered 4 ways to foster vocations. The first, said Archbishop Dolan, is by emphasizing the vocation of marriage and family. Citing data from a Pew Research Center study, Archbishop Dolan stated that only about 50% of Catholic young people are approaching the sacrament of marriage.

“Taking care of the first crisis will take care of the second,” said Archbishop Dolan. “Vocations to the priesthood and religious life come from lifelong, life-giving faithful marriages.”

Secondly, Archbishop Dolan spoke of re-creating a culture of vocations.

“There were no good old days in the Church,” said Archbishop Dolan. “Every era in Church history has its horrors and difficulties.”

“We need to recapture the climate/tenor/tone/ambiance in the Church where a boy or man isn’t afraid to publicly say, ‘I want to be a priest,’ and where his family, relatives, neighbors, parish, priest, sisters, teachers and even non-Catholics are robustly supportive.”

Thirdly, Archbishop Dolan said that the laity need to not be afraid to ask their priests to help them be holy.

“For a faithful Catholic, a priest is essential for growth in holiness because he gives us the sacraments, and without the sacraments we can’t be holy,” said Archbishop Dolan. “When you ask us to help you be holy, we realize that we must be holy, and you remind us that there is something unique in the Church that only a priest can do.”

Finally, Archbishop Dolan said that priests must be reminded that they are here to help the laity get to heaven.

“A priest is an icon of the beyond, the eternal, the transcendent,” said Archbishop Dolan. “Heaven gives us hope and meaning in life.”

This month sees the publication of a document called "Recent Vocations to Religious Life" - a report for the National Religious Vocation Conference from CARA (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate), Georgetown University Washington DC. The report runs to 406 pages and is available in PDF here.

Especially when you on vacation/holidays, it might not be always possible to get to Mass, but if you have an internet connection, you can find the readings and feast day plus a brief reflection before you leave home. Connect to EWTN here.

Cardinal John Henry Newman to be beatified. All Catholics in England rejoice that Pope Benedict XVI has approved the process for Cardinal Newman to be declared blessed. John Henry Newman was born in 1801 and was ordained as an Anglican Priest when he also formed the Oxford Movement. He converted to the Catholic Church in 1845 and became an Oratorian priest and a distinguished theologian.
A lot unites the UK with our friends in America because the first miracle attributed to Cardinal Newman was the complete cure of Deacon Jack Sullivan of the Archdiocese of Boston, from a crippling spinal disorder. Cardinal Newman, Pray for us. Find out more from the Provost at the Birmingham Oratory.

Added - a stunning poster (PDF) for the Year for the Priest - only available as far as I can tell in Italian, but still impressive - you could add this to your blog or vocations site and then print it for your parish or school. Download it here. I don't speak Italian, but if my Latin is up to it - the translation is "The Priest is the love of the Heart of Jesus" (St John Vianney).

After some discussion between Dario and Jude and John, we've decided to dedicate our Vocations site to Mary Help of Christians. It was her Feast Day yesterday. Why did we decide on this special dedication?

• Mary gave her Son Jesus to the world and this offering is continued today through priests
• Mary said YES to God when invited to be the Mother of Jesus - it was a generous YES, and although it must have been difficult and perplexing, she did not hesitate. That has to be the model of vocation for everyone, but especially priests-to-be
• Mary is help of Christians and not just Catholics. Some Anglican clergy in England have a very special devotion to Mary, and the best book I've read on the Rosary was written by a Methodist Minister!
• John is a pupil at a Salesian School where (along with Don Bosco, Dominic Savio), Mary Help of Christians is a really special devotion!
• Mary Help of Christians, pray for us.
  

Pope Benedict has designated June 19 2009 to June 19 2010 as The Year of the Priest with special reference to St John Vianney who transformed his parish when penitents came to him from all over the world. The period will begin with the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, "a day of priestly sanctification", says the text, when the Pope will celebrate Vespers before the relics of the saint, brought to Rome for the occasion by the bishop of the French diocese of Belley-Ars. The Year will end in St. Peter's Square, in the presence of priests from all over the world who will renew their faithfulness to Christ and their bonds of fraternity.
Please pray for your priests and for those in the Seminary and for all who are thinking about priesthood.

God bless Jude who has been working hard to get the prayer and reflection page sorted out, as well as our links, and has even emailed the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops about this site. Here's the first response from Father Toups, Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations:-

'Dear Jude - I am so grateful for your desire to serve the Lord and your
openness to the possibility of a priestly vocation. I can assure you that it
is indeed a wonderful calling.
It is quite evident that you and your friends have done quite a fine job in
constructing your website, for which you should be congratulated.
My recommendation to you at this point is to remain in contact with the
vocation directors of your respective dioceses. It seems like each of you will
be a great asset as you serve your local churches.
May the Good Shepherd continue to bless you as you discern His holy will for
your lives.
In Christ, Fr. Toups'

Thank you Father for encouraging and supporting us.

New York is truly blessed to have such a dynamic spiritual leader and priest in Archbishop Timothy Dolan. When asked about the shortage of priests, he replied: "We need to say, wait a minute, fellas, you bet we have problems, but we're also serving a man who happens to be the son of God, who told us he would be with us until the end of time and that the gates of hell will not prevail against us. And that we should not be afraid. So come aboard. You're going to love it."...

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